Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Good Bye Castañeda Family

Three years ago Castañeda, Maritza, Erica, Jonathan, Bianca and Eli(inside the belly), moved to Utah from California. I learned that the family was moving back to California when Alejandra ask me to take friendship pictures of her and Erica. 


Last Friday I met up with these cute girls and took some fun pictures to try to document their friendship. I couldn't help but smile and reminisce about my best friend who moved here from California, unfortunately people grow up and apart. I hope with all of my heart that they can continue to support each other and remember all of the good times they had together. 


Here are a few of my favorites

















Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Don't Believe The Hype


Today I woke up with enough time to make a shake. 


Just thought I should let you know I gave in and bought the Hunger Games book on my Kindle for Android. I didn’t want jump on the band wagon because everyone is making such a big deal about it.  In honor of the movie release I wore my “Don’t Believe the Hype” Obey Shirt, reason being it bothers me when people are all hyped up about the movie but don’t read, or even know the book exists.  Two reasons why I bought the book was because I do eventually want to see the movie. Second, I heard that it portrays a heroine without sexualizing her, if that’s true, then I support the message.  So far the book is a quick paced read and I’m enjoying it. I hopped on, and of course my beliefs aren’t any better than yours, but seriously READ A BOOK. 


Monday, March 26, 2012

Last of Daily Photos

I'm so behind on my March pics. I've been enjoying the nice weather by doing a lot of bike riding, projects around my house and I have a vacation coming up,  so this will be my last post relating to photo-a-day for awhile.

#16
Sunglasses
Jose gave me these as a just because. We looked at them several times together, but I was just too cheap to buy them. I love them because they are red


#17
Green
Another recipe inspired by Pinterest, The Green Monster Shake. I throw in whatever fruit I have on hand.

#18
A Corner of Your Home
My cute little Mooch having a sip of water on the corner of the house where a majority of water drains off the roof. Definitely need to get those gutters soon.

#20
Before/After
I found these curtains at Walmart for $3.00. I have been meaning to redo my living room with a Japanese theme and this teal color. Since I needed a before and after I finally made the time to mend these curtains. Thanks to my mom for teaching how to sew and thanks to her friend, Ester, for giving me a sewing machine. 

#21
Delicious
I highly recommend you try key lime greek yogurt. It is so good! You already know I love almonds. Actually the banana and almonds were supposed to be made into a breakfast shake, but I didn't have enough time so I just brought them along as snacks. I rarely eat bananas unless they are sliced into my ice cream. 


The End!


Friday, March 23, 2012

Takes Some Self-Control

 
Remembering back when we only had one income it was so easy to have self control and not eat out or buy useless shit. Now that we’re back to two incomes I am struggling. I’ve often mentioned how cheap and tight I am with money. Tight meaning I prefer saving money for a rainy day. Cheap in that it’s not my instinct to buy unnecessary, overpriced items because the media tells me to.  I’ve become more lax on my spending habits because Jose and I have to cooperate on how we spend our money. I have learned that paying more for quality is a lot better than paying less for quantity.

Back to my struggle. This is week two of me attempting to  not eat out.

First, it gets expensive spending $10 per meal. Lunch is my favorite meal of the day because I get to go out and try something different every day. I’ve come to the realization that this has got to stop.

Second, eating out is not the healthiest choice. Fast, processed food, although delicious, is not very nutritious. Don’t be deceived that if you are at a sit down restaurant, rather than fast food, it’s better for you. All that deliciousness is very high in calories and fat.

Third, there is joy in cooking. I love the feeling of focusing and creating that comes from preparing a meal.

To keep myself going I just keep thinking of how much money I’m going to have to spend on something cool and how much happier my body will be because I’m not putting as much junk in it.

Here are a few pictures of some of the things I’ve eaten and some stories behind the pics. 

Jose wasn't here tonight so I got to have ground beef and corn. This is one of my favorite things(not his) that I crave. I like the taste, but it also reminds me so much of my Grama Lola. She used to make this.  

Not nutritious, but my grandpo brought me a box so I stored a few in my desk drawer. Now I can't go out and eat with the excuse of I didn't having anything for lunch. 


I am not a hamburger person, don't ever get crave them. The only ones I really like are home made burgers.

 Spinach Shake


 Key Lime Greek Yogurt

Left over flautas

 Turkey Sandwich

 Sandwich and strawberries

Thanks again to my grandpo for bringing me a box of cereal.
 
 This lunch item here is toast with avocado. I got the idea from an old co-worker's blog

Monday, March 19, 2012

Pin in Action

It's so easy to get carried away pinning tons of amazing looking recipes on Pinterest. Tonight I finally had the chance to try something I pinned.


The recipe comes from the Healthy.Delicious. blog. They're a lot healthier than the greasy, frozen taquitos you can buy at gas stations or the store.


Of course I have pictures. 

Tortillas

Salsa

Shredded Chicken
Serrano Peppers

Spinach/Onions/Peppers



They tasted so good I wanted to keep eating, but that would have defeated the whole purpose of making a healthy meal. I'm working on PORTION CONTROL. The thing I'm most proud of is I cleaned up my mess. I hardly ever feel guilty leaving dirty dishes for another time, but it's nice to know they won't be there tomorrow. 


Sunday, March 18, 2012

March #11-14

Hey ya'll it's been awhile. This is a catch up on my March photos. Somedays I didn't stick to the topic, so I'll show what I've got from that day.

#11
Someone You Talked To Today

My grandparents usually invite me to breakfast on Saturday. This Saturday I said no, because I was feeling lazy. I called them right back and said yes, because I never know how many more breakfasts I'll get to have with them. I don't want to miss out. 

#12
Fork

So there is no fork in this pic, but this story is more meaningful than a fork. My bro and I did a 9 mile bike ride today. Mondays we have dinner together so here's what we made, chicken souvlaki, greek brown rice, and pita bread. 

#13
A Sign

I got a book in the mail today and found this inside the front cover. It made me laugh and then think about the books I've lent out that never found their way back. 

#14
Clouds

Again, nothing to do with the topic, unless you get creative and think that his shirt could relate to clouds, blah, blah, blah.  I had to take a pic of Jose because he looks so good. We went to visit his brother David at Millcreek Youth Detention Center. I finally got approval to visit so I have been going to see David weekly for the past 5 weeks. Jose has been able to go twice. He should be getting out in May. He's been there for about 20 months. It frustrates me that no one goes to visit him regularly. It breaks my heart at the end of each session they way he asks if I can come back next week. "I'll be here bro." I think he really needs a strong support system in and out of these programs he's been in for the past 3 years. I hope that when he gets out Jose and I can continue to be positive role models. 



Saturday, March 10, 2012

Eight-Nine-Ten

#8
Window

I've biked three times this week. Sunday I went with an old classmate Amanda on the Legacy Trail. Thursday after work I hit the trails behind my house where I took this picture. Friday my brother and I rode around Ogden, then met my parents for dinner. Along the ride I lost my license, we back tracked and found it. We were too cold and full to ride home so my dad let us put the bikes in the back of his truck and gave us a ride home. 

Here's a map of mine and Bro's ride. 


#9
Red

This is one of my many water bottles, I never go anywhere without one. I drink water all day, everyday. Are you wondering what that sticker is all about? I MAKE IT RAIN! Check out my friend's clothing company IMIR Design.

#10
LOUD!

It was a beautiful, warm day so I took my niece to the park. I had no idea this little girl was so loud. She babbles and talks to herself constantly. It's so cute and interesting. 



Wednesday, March 7, 2012

#7

Something You Wore Today

I bought this dress from Express two weeks ago. I wanted to wear it last week but since it was the first week of conversion at work they let us wear jeans. I finally got to wear it today.



The Worm Moon



YOGAmazing: Yoga for Strength & Toning

I did this today. It's one of my favorites because it gets your heart pumping and it hurts, so you know your muscles are working.